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B.C. government cancels first-time homebuyer loan program

The B.C government announced Tuesday that it will cancel a loan program helping first-time homebuyers, the Home Owner Mortgage and Equity Partnership program, by the end of the month.
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Foreign buyers ‘dominate’ high-end house sales in Vancouver. Photo submitted

The B.C government announced Tuesday that it will cancel a loan program helping first-time homebuyers, the Home Owner Mortgage and Equity Partnership program, by the end of the month.  

Introduced by the former Liberal government, the province said it’s ending the B.C. home owner mortgage and equity partnership program because of its low participation rate. Richmond realtor Erica Sun told the News “30 per cent of my clients applied for loans through this program. I think the cancellation will have some impact on the housing market in the short-term, but won’t be too effective in the long run.”

The government noted in a press release that “current program recipients will not be affected, and applications received by March 31 will be considered for approval.”

The program was introduced in January 2017 and it provided loans of five per cent of the purchase price, to first-time homebuyers with a maximum amount of $750,000.

As of Jan. 31, 2018, the government has only approved 3,000 applications, even though the program was expected to provide 42,000 loans over three years.

The Remaining funding for the loan program will be transferred to HousingHub, a new initiative to increase housing affordability by building new partnerships and developing creative models for homebuyers.